System and Method for Enhanced Video Selection

ABSTRACT

A system and method for presenting video asset information to a viewer to assist the view in selecting a video asset for viewing. The video assets can be available from a plurality of different video asset sources, such as VOD (video on demand), PVR (personal video recorders) and broadcast (including over the air, cable, and satellite). Images from the video assets are displayed in a uniform manner, along with information about the video assets. The information includes data in a metadata category. The view can select one of the video assets for viewing, but also can navigate using metadata categories such as genre, actors, director etc. This allows a much easier and natural navigating and selection process for viewers.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/081,009, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application60/560,146 filed on Apr. 7, 2004, both of which are incorporated hereinby reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed towards multi-channel video environments, andmore particularly towards a system for navigating through video assetsare broadcasted, available on a server for play out.

BACKGROUND

With the introduction of multi-channel video, Electronic Program Guides(EPGs) were developed to assist the consumer with navigating the ‘500Channel’ universe. These allowed features such as grouping of similarlythemed programming, look ahead (and often marking for recording),navigating by Favorite Channels, etc. EPGs typically give access tocurrently showing, and shortly upcoming linear television programming.

With the rise of Video-On-Demand (VOD), EPGs have needed to togglebetween VOD offerings and linear offerings. These have been somewhat ofa compromise because prerecorded material offered through a VOD servicecannot be selected directly through the EPG listings for linearchannels. In addition to this, the VOD selection mechanisms are oftenmodeled as hierarchical menu selection structures, and with the steadyincrease of content available through VOD servers, this makes itincreasingly difficult for consumers to navigate all available content.

Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) have had a similar effect: programmingavailable on PVR is typically presented separate from the linearprogramming and even from the programming available on VOD, so in orderto browse all available programming consumers effectively “toggle”between linear programming, VOD programming, and PVR programming.

Accordingly, there is a need to be able to tie these technologiestogether to enable the consumer to browse and search availableprogramming content using metadata values in a consistent manner, and torepresent the metadata in an intuitive way so that it is easy to relatethem to the programming content. The invention is meant as an extensionto current EPG capabilities, to make it easier to find relevant content.

SUMMARY

Advantageously, technologies have been developed to enable topicallylinked searches across multiple databases, meta data descriptors havebeen developed to more fully capture characteristics of such content aswell as sub-sections of such content, and technologies have beendeveloped where video scenes can have part of the screen with hot linksto meta data objects.

An illustrative embodiment of the present invention include a system forgathering video asset information for a user to assist the user inselecting a video asset for viewing, wherein the video assets areavailable from a plurality of different video asset sources. It includesa metadata component, to store data regarding the video assets availablefrom the plurality of different video asset sources, the data groupedinto at least one metadata category. Examples of metadata categoriesinclude actor, director, genre, sport, league, team, player, or school.At least some of the data is presented to the user to allow the user toselect and view video assets irrespective of the video asset source. Thesystem also includes a clip/still component to obtain and store at leastone image associated with each video asset available from the pluralityof different video asset sources. This image or images are displayed tothe user along with the data. The system can also include an assetavailability component to determine available video assets from saidplurality of video asset sources. The user may select which video assetsources are available for video assets. This system can be ancillary toa first system assisting the user in selecting a video asset on aparticular video asset source.

The illustrative embodiment also includes a feature where when some datais presented to the user, the user may request a search for other videoassets available from the plurality of different video asset sourceswhich have associated data that substantially matches the presented atleast some data, in the metadata category. This allows the user toeasily navigate through video assets. The user may select other videoasset sources while requesting the search for other video assets basedon the presented at least some data.

Examples of video asset sources include VOD, PVR, or contemporaneous orfuture broadcast video. The system also handles details for dealing withvideo assets from different sources, for example if the user selects forviewing a video asset from a future broadcast video source, the systemprovides the user with an option of setting an alert to remind theviewer at a time proximate when the video asset can be viewed. Furtherthe system can alert the user if a selected video asset for viewingrequires a format conversion in order to be viewed. Also, if a samevideo asset is available from a plurality of video asset sources, thesystem includes a selection setting to determine from which video assetsource the same video asset will be made available for viewing.

An embodiment of the present invention includes a method for gatheringvideo asset information to assist a user in selecting a video asset forviewing, wherein the video assets are available from a plurality ofdifferent video asset sources. It includes obtaining data regarding thevideo assets available from the plurality of different video assetsources, wherein the data is grouped into at least one metadatacategory; and presenting at least some of the data to the user to allowthe user to select and view video assets irrespective of the video assetsource. It also includes obtaining at least one image associated witheach video asset available from the plurality of different video assetsources, and presenting the at least one image in conjunction with thedata to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the present invention will be betterunderstood in view of the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of a typical VODsystem;

FIG. 2 illustrates a typical set of traversal steps through a VOD menusystem to select a movie for viewing;

FIG. 3 illustrates video viewing screen for an illustrative embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates interactive information banner for an illustrativeembodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a metadata browsing screen for the illustrativeembodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates a preview/trailer screen for the illustrativeembodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates a second interactive information banner for anillustrative embodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates a second preview/trailer screen for the illustrativeembodiment;

FIG. 9 illustrates a third preview/trailer screen for the illustrativeembodiment;

FIG. 10 illustrates a fourth preview/trailer screen for the illustrativeembodiment;

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow chart according to an illustrativeembodiment;

FIG. 12 illustrates a system diagram for an implementation of theillustrative embodiment;

FIG. 13 illustrates an implementation of a Clip/Still Store component;

FIG. 14 illustrates an implementation of a Search Metadata Databasecomponent;

FIG. 15 illustrates an implementation of a Asset Availability Databasecomponent;

FIG. 16 illustrates a possible mapping of user inputs commands to anexisting remote control;

FIG. 17 illustrates an implementation of the Personalization Databasecomponent;

FIG. 18 A-D illustrate example screen views of an embodiment;

FIG. 19A-B illustrate other example screen views for the embodiment ofFIG. 18;

FIG. 20 illustrates another example screen view for the embodiment ofFIG. 18; and

FIG. 21 illustrates another example screen view for the embodiment ofFIG. 18.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A schematic overview of a prior art VOD system is shown in FIG. 1. Thesystem consists of a VOD Back-End component 20 (residing in a cablehead-end) and a Receiver Device 22 and Display Device 24 at theconsumer's home. The Receiver Device 22 may be a digital set-top box, orany other receiving device including computers or media processors. TheDisplay Device 24 can be a TV set, or any other display or monitoringsystem. Further, the Receiver device 22 and Display Device 24 may alsobe combined into one physical device, e.g. a “Digital Cable Ready” TVset, or computer/media center. The backend component 20 may compriseseveral modules, such as one or more VOD Storage servers 26 (used tostore the programming that is available to the consumers), one or moreVOD Pumps 28 (used to play out the programming as requested by thevarious consumers that are actually using the system at any point intime), a Subscriber Management & Billing module 30 (used to interfacewith the subscriber database, and for authentication and billingservices), a Management & Control module 32 (used to overall manage thesystem, assets, and resources), and a Content Ingest module 34 (used toload new programming content onto the system).

In typical usage scenario, the consumer 25 would “toggle” to VOD (e.g.by pressing a special button on their Received Device remote control.This causes the Receiver Device to send an initiation signal to the VODBack-End over the Command & Control channel, and then typically tune toa VOD channel, which gives the consumer a menu of available VOD assetsfrom which to select. This menu is typically implemented as ahierarchical text-oriented menu system, where the user can selectsub-menus and order VOD assets with key presses from their remotecontrol. This is illustrated in the menu chain 36 of FIG. 2, where theconsumer selects “Movies” from the main menu, then selects “ActionMovies” from Sub Menu 1, then selects “Hannibal” from Sub Menu 2, thenconfirms the transaction to buy Hannibal at Sub Menu 3. Once all this isdone, the VOD Back-End system 20 will allocate Hannibal in the VODStorage system 26, allocate an available VOD Pump 28, and instruct theVOD Pump 28 to start playing out Hannibal on an available bandwidth slot(frequency) in the network. The Receiver Device 22 will then tune itselfto this slot, and starts displaying the asset on the Display Device 24so that the consumer 25 will begin viewing the asset. During the viewingprocess the consumer 25 typically has the ability to Pause, Rewind,Fast-Forward the movie by pressing buttons on their remote control. Forexample when the consumer 25 presses the Pause button, the ReceiverDevice will send a Pause message (via Command & Control channel 27) tothe VOD Back-End 20 to pause the movie. A VOD session can end becausethe movie viewing has ended, or because the consumer 25 decided toterminate the session by pressing one or more special buttons on theremote control, in both cases the system will go back to regulartelevision viewing mode.

Current interfaces and systems for searching and browsing VOD assets areoften problematic and not always effective. The systems are oftenimplemented as hierarchical menu systems, are not very flexible, and notvery intuitive. As a result it is not always possible for a consumer tofind a VOD asset for viewing, unless they know the exact title andproperties of the asset they are looking for. This problem gets evenworse if the number of available VOD assets on VOD systems increases.

The present invention provides a new paradigm for browsing and searchingvideo assets available on VOD and from other sources. The presentinvention takes advantage of metadata for the assets (e.g. “lead actor”,“director”, “year of release”, etc.), and in one embodiment uses it tolet the consumer search for certain assets (e.g. “find all assetsstarring or associated with Clint Eastwood”). It also provides powerfulassociative search capabilities (e.g. “I like movie X, so find me allassets that have the same lead actor”). Also, the present inventionpresents the consumer with an intuitive user interface (pictures insteadof text) that can be easily navigated with traditional remote controls(no need for keyboards).

Further features of the present invention are described in co-pendingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/080,389 filed on Mar. 15, 2005 andentitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DISPLAY GUIDE FOR VIDEO SELECTION, whichis incorporated herein by reference.

An illustrative implementation of the present invention in a digitalcable system will now be described, first in terms of functionality tothe consumer, then in terms of implementation in a cable system orenvironment.

Consider a consumer in a digital cable system, who has access to VODservice, and also has a digital receiver device that includes PVR(personal video recorder) service. To start off with, the consumer willbe watching a movie, so his display may show full screen video asdepicted in FIG. 3. At any point in time during the movie, the consumercan initiate (by pressing a specific button on his remote control) aninteractive information banner 38 to be displayed on his display, asillustrated in FIG. 4. In this example the banner 38 contains thechannel logo 40 on the left, and some textual description 42 of thecurrent movie to the right. The description contains a number of “linkedfields” 44, which are marked by some visual effect (in this example theyare underlined). The fields 44 represent associative searches for assetswith the same attribute (so the “Will Smith” field represents all assetsthat feature Will Smith as an actor).

The consumer can navigate between the linked field with buttons on theremote control (current selection may be indicated by highlighting it),and then activate one of the links by pressing yet another button on theremote control. For this example, assume the consumer activates the“Will Smith” field. This will lead into a metadata browsing screen (inthis case for “Will Smith”) as illustrated in FIG. 5. This screenprovides the results of a search for all assets that share the samemetadata (in this case “Starring Will Smith”). In this example thescreen holds nine assets, and each asset is shown as a combination of astill picture 46 (clipped from the asset or from an alternate source)and the title 48 of the asset along with other information such as therelease year 50 of the asset and a symbol 52 indicating where the assetis available. Possible values for this symbol are: VOD (available in theVOD archive) 52 a, Showing (currently showing) 52 b, PVR (available onPVR) 52 c, and Guide (shows up in the Guide, so available in the future)52 d. Other possible values for this symbol 52, as well as alternativesources of the assets, such as DVD jukeboxes, tape jukeboxes, and mediadelivered by IP networks (including Ethernet, fiber, carrier current,wireless, etc.), are also within the scope of the invention.

Typically, one of the assets is highlighted 54 (indicating currentselection, in this case the “Wild Wild West” asset). Other methods ofdrawing attention to the presently selected asset (including but notlimited to blinking, ghosting, color changes, alternate borders, etc.)are within the scope of the present invention. The consumer can changecurrent selection using keys on the remote control. In case there aremore assets than fit on the screen, the consumer can move to previousand next pages using remote control buttons. The consumer can activatethe currently selected asset by pressing a specific button on the remotecontrol. This will take the consumer to a preview/trailer session forthe selected asset. For this example, assume the consumer has selected“I Robot”, the resulting preview/trailer screen is illustrated in FIG.6. The preview can be any length theatrical preview, during the previewthe consumer has the ability to purchase for viewing the VOD asset bypressing a button on the remote control (in this case the “Select”button). The consumer also has the option of viewing the purchased assetimmediately, or potentially selecting a later time to view the VODasset, allowing for example a parent to make a purchase with passwordprotected purchase option, for the children to view later in theevening. Further, if the VOD asset may be downloaded to a PVR, therebyallowing the consumer to then view the asset from the PVR. The consumermay also pause, fast forward, rewind the contents of the preview. Also,the consumer may press the remote control button for the interactiveinformation banner, which will result in the interactive banner 42 asillustrated in FIG. 7. As discussed before, the consumer may nownavigate the links in the banner, etc.

The preview/trailer may look slightly different for assets that areavailable through other means than VOD. FIG. 8 shows the preview screenwhen a currently showing asset is selected (in this example Ali), FIG. 9shows the preview screen when an asset is selected that is available onPVR (in this example Enemy of the State), FIG. 10 shows the previewscreen when an asset is selected that is available in the Guide (in thisexample Men In Black). The application logic for this illustrativeembodiment is further shown and summarized in the process flow 56 inFIG. 11. Depending on the type of asset, different actions are takenthat are appropriate for that asset, as previously discussed with FIGS.6 and 8-10.

An implementation of this illustrative embodiment in a cable head endwill now be discussed. This implementation is illustrated in FIG. 12.The Clip/Still Store component 58 is illustrated in greater detail inFIG. 13. It stores and manages previews, trailers, and still picturesthat are associated with assets that are available to the consumer. Itprovides a unified database of various trailers and stills that areassociated with an asset. It gets its information from various sources.First, whenever new content enters the VOD system, the Content Ingestmodule 34 notifies the Clip/Still Store component 58. If the new contentalready has associated clips/stills for preview, the Clip/Still Storecomponent 58 simple administers and stores it for later use. If noclips/stills are associated with it, the Clip/Still Store component 58may automatically extract appropriate clips/stills from it. Informationsupplied with the asset or obtained separately may provide one or moreappropriate time/frame references for clips or stills from that asset.Second, the Clip/Still Store 58 may be connected to a variety ofinternal and external sources of clips and stills 60. Examples of thesesources are online Internet Movie Databases (“www.imdb.com), orlibraries of VOD and other content. Third the Clip/Still Store 58 mayhave a user interface 62 that allows operators to manually extract clipsand stills from an asset.

Another main system component is the Search Metadata Database (DB) 64,FIG. 12, as detailed in FIG. 14. This component 64 provides unifiedmetadata for all assets that are available to the consumer. It alsoprovides interfaces to search for assets based on metadata values. TheSearch Metadata Database 64 gets its information from various sources.First, whenever new content enters the VOD system it will typically comewith metadata (for example, see the Cablelabs Metadata Specification, .. . ), so the Content Ingest module 58 will notify the Search MetadataDatabase who then administers and stores the metadata. Second, theSearch Metadata Database is connected to a variety of internal andexternal metadata sources 66. These can be public sources (such as IMDBdescribed below), or libraries of VOD or other content. Third, theSearch Metadata Database 64 may have a system 68 for automaticallyextracting metadata from the content. Some examples of this includeinspecting closed captioning information, image analysis for findingwords for the opening and/or closing credits, comparison and matching todatabases of actors and directors etc. and any combination thereof. Forexample the present invention may use a combination of scanning ofclosed captioning data, combined with pattern recognition software toestablish the genre of a movie. Also there may be scene detectionalgorithms to locate the opening and closing credits of a movie, andthen the use of character recognition algorithms to determine actors anddirectors automatically. Also, audio (music) maybe analyzed to determinegenre of a movie, or even recognize specific movies. Further, voicerecognition systems may be used to determine actors.

Fourth, the Search Metadata Database 64 may have a user interface 62whereby operators can attach metadata to content.

Another main component is the Asset Availability Database 70 FIG. 12, asdetailed in FIG. 15. This database 70 keeps track of which assets areavailable to the consumer at any point in time. It gets its informationfrom a variety of sources. First, whenever new content enters the VODsystem, the Content Ingest module 34 will notify the Asset AvailabilityDatabase 70 to record and administer the presence of the asset (ordelete it if the asset has been removed from the VOD system). Second,the Asset Availability Database 70 is connected to an electronic sourceof Program Information 72 (this information is typically supplied tocable operators to populate the Electronic Program Guides in the digitalset-top boxes, an example of a supplier of electronic programinformation in the US is Tribune Data Services). The Asset AvailabilityDatabase 70 uses this information to keep track of which assets/programsare available for viewing or recording on the various networks in thecoming weeks. Third, the Asset Availability Database 70 periodicallycollects data from all digital receivers 74 that have PVR capability,this information specifies which assets each individual receiver hascurrently stored and available on its local hard disk drive or otherstorage medium. This information is typically collected in thebackground, to not disrupt cable system behavior (e.g. at night). TheAsset Availability Database 70 normalizes all this data, and cangenerate a list of all assets that are available to a specific digitalreceiver 74 according to the following formula:

Assets_available_to_receiver=IF (receiver_has_PVR) THEN(assets_available_on_VOD+assets_present_in_program_information)+assetson PVR) ELSE(assets_available_on_VOD+assets_present_in_program_information) END

Another main component of the system is the Search Application 76, FIG.12. This application resides in the Receiver Device 22 at the consumer'spremise. It can be an embedded application, a downloadable application,or a built-in feature of another Receiver Device application (such asthe Electronic Program Guide). The Search Application 76 has two majorfunctions. First, whenever the consumer initiates enhanced search mode,it will set up a connection with the Search Application Server 78 in theback-end, and handle the user interface to the consumer (according toflow chart in FIG. 11), it will request all metadata, stills, and videoplay out functions from the Search Application Server 78. Second, incase the Receiver Device 22 includes a PVR, it will periodically send alist of assets available on PVR back to the Asset Availability Database70 in the back-end. A final main component of the system is the SearchApplication Server 78. This server acts as the engine of theapplication, whenever a consumer initiates enhanced search mode, theSearch Application Server 78 receives a request to open a searchsession, and inside that session it will continue to get requests formetadata, stills, or video play outs. The Search Application Server 78in turn will interact with the Clip/Still Store 58 to retrieve clips orstills, to the Search Metadata Database 64 to retrieve metadata, theAsset Availability Database 70 to find lists of available assets, andthe VOD Storage and/or VOD Pump components to play out trailers and/orVOD assets.

One of the advantages of the present invention is that the required.user input from the consumer can easily be mapped on an existing remotecontrol device, thus avoiding the need for more complex input devicessuch as remote keyboards. In other words, it is straightforward to mapall required user inputs on existing keys on existing remote controls. Asample mapping on remote control 80 keys is shown in FIG. 16 (note: thisis only one of the possible mappings, also note that only the keysassociated with this application are shown, in reality there will beplenty of other keys as well).

The implementation describes only one possible embodiment of the presentinvention. It should be clear to anyone skilled in the art that theinvention can also be implemented in alternative embodiments andimplementations. Without attempting to be comprehensive, alternativeembodiments will now be disclosed

One major enhancement to the previously described embodiment is to addpersonalization to the system. This would further refine the userinterface to the personal preferences or history of the consumer. Forexample if a consumer is presented with all Will Smith movies, thesystem may take into account that the consumer is interested in Sci-Fimovies, and it would present the Will Smith movies from the Sci-Ficategory first. Also the stills and clips could be personalized. Forexample different aspects of the movie may be highlighted to appeal todifferent personal profiles (the movie “Pearl Harbor” may be presentedas a love story to someone interested in romantic movies, and as a warmovie for someone interested in war movies, this would result indifferent clips and stills to be shown to represent the same movie).Such a feature could be implemented by adding a Personalization Server82 to the back-end 20 infrastructure. This Personalization Server 82 isillustrated in FIG. 17. The purpose of this server 82 is to maintainpersonal profile information for each potential user of the system(consumer). The personalization server 82 builds and maintains theseprofiles from various inputs. First, it may get subscriber informationfrom the cable operator's subscriber database 84. This information mayinclude some basic demographics (gender), past VOD buying behavior, etc.Second, it may get information from other (external) demographicdatabases 86 with more detailed demographics (income, etc.). Examples ofsuch database providers in the US include Axiom, InfoUSA. Third, it maycollect viewing behavior from the various client devices 74. This mayinclude information on what programs are watched most frequently, etc.The Personalization Database 82 will normalize all this information, andthen apply it to the Clips/Stills collection 58 that is available, andto the metadata collection 64 that is available, and it will select themost appropriate Clips/Stills for a given consumer and/or customize thedescriptive text or metadata towards a specific consumer.

FIGS. 18A-18D show example screen shots according to an embodiment ofthe invention. The images of television shows in these figures (and thesubsequent figures) are for exemplary purposes only, and no claim ismade to any rights for the shows displayed. All trademark, trade name,publicity rights and copyrights for the exemplary shows are the propertyof their respective owners. FIG. 18A shows a display for video assetswhich for this example are broadcast shows arranged by viewing time. Thebroadcast shows are displayed with a still or moving image of thebroadcast show, also a network logo is included as part of the image,superimposed or combined with the image. A user can use a remote controlto highlight a selected broadcast show for viewing or to interactivelyobtain further information about the highlighted broadcast show. Theuser is not required to deal with channels or other underlying detailsof video asset delivery, but can simply navigate by more familiar terms,in this case by network. Further, the user may selectively add or removeentities (and arrange the order of the displayed networks) from thedisplay, to personalize the display for that user. FIGS. 18B-D showdifferent displays based on selected time slots as shown on the bottomof the image.

FIG. 19A shows another screen shot from this embodiment, in this casethe user is viewing video assets for a particular show, where the videoassets are available from a source such as video on demand, library, orother delivery service. The user can easily select a certain episode forviewing, or to obtain further information, for example as shown in FIG.19B. As previously described, a user can have the ability to search forother video assets based on information and meta-data categories thatare displayed with the image.

FIG. 20 shows another screen shot from this embodiment, wherein a usermay navigate using tabs positioned along a top of the display, andselect different categories of video assets. In the present example, theuser has selected a category of “My Favorites”, and is shown a selectionof video assets for viewing. As shown in this figure, the video assetsare available from a wide variety of sources, including DVD, broadcast,and pay per view broadcast. The user is able to select a video asset(through highlighting interactivity with a remote, or otherwise) forviewing from a vast number of video asset sources. Further, the user cannavigate to other similar video assets (based on the meta-datacategories) using the video assets presently listed in this favoritecategory.

FIG. 21 shows another screen shot from this embodiment, which shows theability to provide advertisements, interactive shopping experiences orspecial offers to users. As shown in the image, selection of advertisingassets are presented to the user, to allow the user to interact byselection and thereby view and/or receive special offers from suchadvertisers. A visual indication on an image can alert the user to aspecial offer or interactive opportunity for certain advertisements. Theuser has the ability to use meta-data categories to search for otheradvertisers or suppliers of goods and services, for example to searchfor other amusements parks based on a meta-data category for one imageand advertisement for an amusement park.

Another implementation variation is to selectively use still picturesinstead of video previews/trailers. This has a number of advantages:first still pictures may be more readily available thanpreviews/trailers, especially for content that is available throughother means than VOD (e.g. content that shows up in the Guide for twoweeks from now), second this could limit the bandwidth consumption(still pictures take considerably less bandwidth and storage than movingvideo). Bandwidth use can be further limited by sending the stillpictures in so-called broadcast carrousels and to have them stored ateach client device 74 when needed (as opposite to sending them to theclient device on request when needed). Broadcast carrousels are a wellknown bandwidth saving technique in the digital video industry (anexample is the DSM-CC Data Carrousel). It is within the scope of theinvention to modify the system in such a way that it detects shortage ofbandwidth, and then switches over to more bandwidth friendly techniques(stills), and switch back to using motion video when bandwidth is moreavailable again.

Another implementation variation is to “auto cue” additionalpreviews/trailers after the consumer is finished watching a preview. Inother words: if a user previews the “Ali” preview and does not decide tobuy the movie, or exit the application, the system may automaticallystart playing the next relevant preview (instead of going back to theBrowsing Screen). It is possible to enhance the system in such a way asto effectively create an interactive movie barker channel (continuouslyplaying relevant trailers).

Another implementation variation is to load trailers to hard disks ofPVR-enabled Receiver Devices. This would allow these trailers to beplayed out from local hard disk (even if they refer to a movie assetthat is available on VOD, or as linear programming). The trailers couldbe downloaded when bandwidth is available (e.g. at night), and thiswould also make the system much more bandwidth efficient.

Another implementation variation is to use the system to representassets from additional sources (in addition to, or instead of, VOD andPVR and linear programming). Examples would include: assets that areavailable via Broadband IP networks, assets that are available on DVD orDVD-Recorder, assets that are available via Digital Terrestrialnetworks, assets that are available via Direct-To-Home (DTH) satellite,assets that are available on Near-Video-On-Demand (NVOD) channels,assets that are available via Subscription-Video-On-Demand (SVOD), etc.Further, assets can be downloaded from a network or path that does notprovide enough bandwidth for real-time viewing. The asset may bedownloaded to the PVR, and the consumer can be alerted when the asset isfully downloaded, or alternatively, when enough of the asset isdownloaded to allow the consumer to begin viewing from the PVR whiledownloading continues in parallel (in effect using the PVR as abuffering system).

Another implementation variation is to change the User Interface Look &Feel to accommodate different flavors of interfaces. The system mayeasily be modified to provide different views or representations of thevideo (either as still picture or as moving video) in combination with arepresentation of metadata. Also different input devices can easily besupported (more advanced remote controls, keyboards, media controlcenter counsels, etc.).

Another implementation variation is to give viewers more control/previewcapabilities by presenting them with a screen that shows them thevarious parts of the movie that they are (about to) see. This screen canlook very similar to the metadata browsing screen (or the sceneselection screen typically used in many DVD titles today), and allow theviewer to get a better understanding of the flow of the movie, and givethe viewer control to navigate the movie in a more user friendly manner.

Another implementation variation is to use moving video in the metadatabrowsing screen (instead of still pictures). The various assets can beshown as moving pictures, and only the audio of the currently selectedasset would be rendered. In order to make implementation easier, themoving pictures can be low-quality, or even animated still pictures.

Although the invention has been shown and described with respect toillustrative embodiments thereof, various other changes, omissions andadditions in the form and detail thereof may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for gathering video asset informationfor a user to assist said user in selecting a video asset for viewing,wherein said video assets are available from a plurality of differentvideo asset sources, said system comprising: a metadata component, tostore data regarding said video assets available from said plurality ofdifferent video asset sources, said data grouped into at least onemetadata category; wherein at least some of said data is presented tosaid user to allow said user to select and view video assetsirrespective of said video asset source.
 2. The system of claim 1further including: a clip/still component to obtain and store at leastone image associated with each video asset available from said pluralityof different video asset sources.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein saiduser may select which video asset sources are available for videoassets.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein when said at least some data ispresented to said user, said user may request a search for other videoassets available from said plurality of different video asset sourceswhich have associated data that substantially matches said presented atleast some data, in said metadata category.
 5. The system of claim 4wherein said user may select other video asset sources while requestingsaid search for other video assets based on said presented at least somedata.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein said at least one imageassociated with a video asset is displayed to said user along with saidat least some data.
 7. The system of claim 1 wherein said metadatacategories include actor, director, genre, sport, league, team, player,or school.
 8. The system of claim 1 wherein said video asset sourcesinclude VOD, PVR, or contemporaneous or future broadcast video.
 9. Thesystem of claim 8 wherein if said user selects for viewing a video assetfrom a future broadcast video source, said system provides said userwith an option of setting an alert to remind said viewer at a timeproximate when said video asset can be viewed.
 10. The system of claim 1wherein said at least one image includes still clips, video clips, ortrailers.
 11. The system of claim 1 wherein said system is ancillary toa first system assisting said user in selecting a video asset on aparticular video asset source.
 12. The system of claim 1 wherein saidsystem alerts said user if a selected video asset for viewing requires aformat conversion in order to be viewed.
 13. The system of claim 1wherein if a same video asset is available from a plurality of videoasset sources, said system includes a selection setting to determinefrom which video asset source said same video asset will be madeavailable for viewing.
 14. A method for gathering video assetinformation to assist a user in selecting a video asset for viewing,wherein said video assets are available from a plurality of differentvideo asset sources, said method comprising: obtaining data regardingsaid video assets available from said plurality of different video assetsources, wherein said data is grouped into at least one metadatacategory; and presenting at least some of said data to said user toallow said user to select and view video assets irrespective of saidvideo asset source.
 15. The method of claim 14 further including:obtaining at least one image associated with each video asset availablefrom said plurality of different video asset sources, and presentingsaid at least one image in conjunction with said data to said user. 16.The method of claim 14 wherein said user may select which video assetsources are available for video assets.
 17. The method of claim 14further including: receiving a request from said user for other videoassets available from said plurality of different video asset sourceswhich have associated data that substantially matches said presented atleast some data, in said metadata category.
 18. The method of claim 14wherein said metadata categories include actor, director, genre, sport,league, team, player, or school.
 19. The method of claim 14 wherein saidvideo asset sources include VOD, PVR, or contemporaneous or futurebroadcast video.
 20. A system for gathering video asset information fora user to assist said user in selecting a video asset for viewing,wherein said video assets are available from a plurality of differentvideo asset sources, said system comprising: an asset availabilitycomponent to determine available video assets from said plurality ofvideo asset sources; a clip/still component to obtain and store at leastone image associated with each video asset available from said pluralityof different video asset sources; a metadata component, to store dataregarding said video assets available from said plurality of differentvideo asset sources, said data grouped into at least one metadatacategory; wherein at least some of said data is presented to said useralong with at least one image associated with a video asset, to allowsaid user to select and view video assets irrespective of said videoasset source; wherein when said at least some data is presented to saiduser, said user may interact and request a search for other video assetsavailable from said plurality of different video asset sources whichhave associated data that substantially matches said presented at leastsome data, in said metadata category.